stevens



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

L. STEVENS.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING ILLUMIISATING GAS. No. 328,151. Pagented 001:.13 18 sh: Mim /Va N. PETERS Pnem-Lium n nur. Washinpon. D. C.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

L. STEVENS.

mocnss OF MANUFACTURING ILLUMINATING GAS.

No. 328,151. Patented Oct. 13, 1885.

ETERi mawumo n hor. Washin ton D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEVI STEVENS, OF VASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING lLLUMlNATlNG-GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 328,151, dated October13, 1885. Application filed August 10, 1885. Serial No. 173,962. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEVI STEVENS, of Washington city, in the District ofColumbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Process ofManufacturing Illuminating- Gas; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon, making a part of this specification.

My invention relates to the manufacture of a rich pure illuminatinggasfrom coal, steam, and hydrocarbon; and it consists in combining thegases obtained by a distillation of coal with the gases obtained bysuperheating steam to a temperature of from 1500 to 1800 Fahrenheit, andafter passing the combined gases through a water-gas retort, leading thesame to a more highly-heated fixing or finishing retort, into whichahydrocarbon previously volatilized and retorted in the presence ofsteam at a high temperature and under pressure is also admitted, and theresultant compound converted into a fixed gas of superior quality.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal section, partlyin elevation, of the apparatus employed in carrying out my process,taken upon the irregular line 00 a; of Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a transversesection on line y y of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a transverse section, partly inelevation, on line z z, of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 a horizontal section online w w of Figs. 2 and 3.

A represents a bench, in which two primary or distilling retorts, B B,Figs. 1 and 2, are mounted longitudinally in a suitable firechamber overa firebox, C, (see Fig. 2,) so as to be heated directly therefrom.

D D are two water-gas retorts, mounted vertically in a draft chamber orflue, E, at the rear of the bench, which communicates with the firecliamber, and through which the products of combustion are led from saidchamber to the chimney F. (See Figs. 1 and 4.) The upper end of eachwater-gas retort D is made to communicate freely with the inner end ofone of the distilling-retorts B, so that the contents of the latter maybe pushed forward into the former. The lower end of each retort D ismade to open into a chamber, G, provided with a door, F, through whichthe centrically, and with its outer end projecting through and beyondthe outer end of the retort H. The inner end of this-retort R,projecting within the retort H, is closed by a valve, S, adapted to beopened inwardly by means of a rod, M, led therefrom with tight joints tothe outside of the apparatus.

The outer end of the hydrocarbon and fixing retorts R and H, and of thedistilling retort or retorts B, are made to project out be yond thefront wall of the bench A, which incloses the furnace, and eachdistilling-retort is closed by a door which admits of the readyintroduction therein of the coal for distillation.

Lateral chambers or enlarged flues N N are formed on each side of thefurnace C, through which the products of combustion are carried to finesE, encircling the water-gas retort or retorts D, and which communicatewith the chimney. Within theselateral chambers steamsuperheaters T areplaced and connected with a steam-generator, the admission of steambeing controlled by suitable valves, T T. These superheaters communicateby suitable pipes, Q Q, with the distilling retort or retorts B, andwith the hydrocarbon-retort It. The admission of superheated steam tothe hydrocarbon-retort R is made through an injectornozzle, V, which isconnected by a pipe, V, with a reservoir of petroleum or otherhydrocarbon in liquid form.

In effectuating my improved process the bench with its retorts is heatedby means of a fire in the furnace C to a temperature of about 2200Fahrenheit. Common gas-coal is charged into the retorts B B, and steamfrom any suitable generator is admitted into the superheaters T T inquantity and under a pressure controlled by the valves T T. The steam inpassing through said superheaters becomes heated to a temperature offrom 1200 to 1800 Fahrenheit, and in this condition is admitted throughthe pipes Q Q. into the primary or distilling retort B, where itcombines with the gases from the coal which is distilling therein. Theresultant mixed gases or vapors pass from the retort B into the watergasretort D, filled with hot incandescent coke, and out at the base of saidretort, (see Fig. 3,) through the pipes I I, into the finishing-retortH, which is maintained at a high temperature by its exposure to the heatof the furnace. Steam is delivered meanwhile through the pipe Q from thesuperheaters T T, or from an independent superheater, at a temperatureof from l200 to 1800 Fahrenheit into the retort R, carrying with it bymeans of the injector V a proportion of the hydrocarbon oil deliveredthrough the pipe V. The valve S is so far closed as to maintain a highpressure within the retort R, and under the influence of the highpressure as well as high temperature of the steam the hydrocarbon isvolatilized, and in connection and combina tion with the decomposedsteam is delivered in proper proportion into the finishing-retort H atits inner end, so as to become thoroughly combined with the gas from theretort D as it flows through the retort H into the deliverypipe 0.

The gas thus produced and enriched then passes out of the retort Hthrough the pipe 0 into the gasmain. When the coal charged into theretort B has become carbonized, the

front covering-plates or doors are opened and the incandescent coke isshoved into the retort D, and the retort B is thereupon recharged withfresh coal and the proportion of steam increased sufficiently to convertany desired percentage of the carbon of the coke in the retort D intocarbonic oxide.

The coke is removed from the water-gas retorts through the door in thelower chamber G, and serves as fuel for the furnace O.

The great advantage of this combination of coal, water, and petroleumgases is in the saving of material and labor and in the harmoniouscombination of the three, by which all the heat is conserved and thematerial utilized, producing no coal-tar or any surplus coke, the carbonbeing converted into carbonic oxide at a trifling expense.

I do not herein claim as new passing the gases derived from thedistillation of coal in the presence of superheated steam through a bedof incandescent coke in a second retort, nor yet supplying soft coalperiodically and successively into a retort wherein it is coked, addingthe coke so obtained to abed of incandescent fuel in a second retort,and causing the gases obtained from the distillation of the coal andfrom the admission of superheated steamthereto in the first retort topass through the incandescent coke and fuel in the second retort inmanner as described in the patent to Pierson, No. 279,010, dated June 5,1883. My

process relates to the after treatment of the gases which have beenpassed through the bed of incandescent coke or fuel in the secondretort; nor do I herein claim the apparatus shown and described forcarrying out my process, the same having been made the subject of aseparate application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 184,015, filed June6, 1885.

I claim as my invention- The process, substantially as herein described,of manufacturing illuminating-gas, which consists in causing the gasesobtained by distilling coal or carbonaceous material in connection withhighly heated steam, and which have been partially fixed by passing themthrough a retort containing highly-heated coke, to pass from thencethrough a more highly-heated finishing-retort into which is admitted thefixed gas obtained by the admixture of superheated steam with a volatilehydrocarbon within ahighly-heated retort under great pressure, wherebythe gas is enriched to any desired candle-power.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEVI STEVENS. \Vitnesses:

G. A. SHAW, L. J. WHITE.

